'ECHO' HAS BEAUTY AND QUALITY PEDIGREE

The Echo of Thunder is not one of the more scintillating Hallmark Hall of Fame productions. However, a mediocre Hallmark is still superior to most TV movies. This is why the Hall of Fame brand unfailingly attracts an atypically large audience.

Like the greeting cards that the Hallmark productions are meant to sell, The Echo of Thunder looks magnificent. Filmed in Australia, the breathtaking vistas of the enchanting land are employed to full advantage as mood-setters. The performances also are top-notch. Unfortunately, the strengths of the production are outweighed by an extremely slight story of good people doing not-so-good things.

Gladwyn and Larry Ritchie and their three children have found contentment and a meager livelihood in the outback, raising pine trees for sale to restaurants and hotels. The Ritchies are far removed from modern conveniences _ no telephones, no television, not even indoor plumbing. The nearest neighbor is a car ride away.

The work is physically taxing, the livelihood complicated by the pitfalls of being at the mercy of nature. However, it is a true team effort and the Ritchies all selflessly chip in. This serves to cement their bond as a family.

The chemistry of the unit is disturbed by a distressing communique. Larry's first wife has died. He has had nothing to do with her in years, but their child, 15-year-old Lara, is now in need of a home. The only alternatives are that she come live with her father and his new family, or be put into an orphanage. In other other words, there is only one option.

Nevertheless, Gladwyn, an exemplary mother and otherwise kind person, is resistant to this reminder of Larry's previous life intruding on the new one he has built with her. To be charitable, Gladwyn is a woman of inner beauty. She accepts that she has never been what would be considered pretty. Years of working the land haven't improved her appearance. Lara's mother, on the other hand, was a knockout, a professional entertainer, and Lara is a ringer for her.

Larry and Gladwyn's children also are reluctant to share their father with a stranger, a person they didn't even know existed. The oldest daughter, Pearl, is especially hostile.

Lara, who is less than anxious to trade the glamor of the bright lights for the solitude and hardship of the sticks, senses that she is not welcome. As a defense mechanism, she becomes as aloof toward Gladwyn and her half-siblings as they are to her. Larry is caught in the middle.

Jamey Sheridan, who has never gotten as much acclaim or work as he deserves, is outstanding as Larry. He has to be to keep pace with the moving performance of Judy Davis as Gladwyn. Youthful Australian actress Lauren Hewett puts down the roots of a promising career as Lara. Chelsea Yates is Pearl.

The resentments reach a crescendo when Larry must leave the homestead for an extended period on a business trip. Lara is left without an ally as the other Ritchies tighten their circle _ save the youngest child, Opal (Emily Jane Browning) who is the most accepting of the new family member. (The role of the third Ritchie child, almost invisible Jasper, is split between Ben and James Hanson.) Lara reacts by retreating further into the insular world she has created by clinging to vestiges of her past.

It takes a couple of acts of bravery and heroism, along with a surprising revelation, to begin to break down the barriers and produce the uplifting ending viewers have come to expect from Hall of Fame productions. Predictability isn't always a bad thing.